One of the early sought-after ‘wants’ on my list of SM memorabilia was to secure myself a copy of the Early Years CD. I didn’t go all-out to secure a copy. Thankfully there were uploads to YouTube of the individual tracks that I could listen to. I desired a copy simply for its collectability. I can’t remember for sure how much I paid for my copy. I think it might have been £25, which isn’t cheap for a single CD but I’m sure it was the most affordable I’d seen at the time. Perhaps it was only £15? It was no more than £25 anyway. Dream Giver states there are two versions of the CD that circulate. One with a ‘MindMood’ logo, the other version without it. Mine doesn’t have the ‘MindMood’ logo.
One could argue that it’s a questionable anniversary release to celebrate given the brevity of the CDs release, for it seems to have been withdrawn from sale just as quickly. According to Dream Giver, the compilation was released around the same time as Neapolis which means we’re around the date of its anniversary. The anniversary of Neapolis was last Thursday (March 16th).
I must also highlight a mistake I made in a previous post. I was obviously getting myself in a mucking fuddle and getting my years confused. Of course, Neapolis is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, having been released in 1998. For some reason I kept thinking its release was in 1997. I decided to avoid the obvious by not looking into the anniversary of Neapolis as I will probably talk more about the album come Record Store Day in a few weeks time.
For me the true joy of ‘Early Years’ is the rarities it contains and also it is that beauty of being a time capsule, recording Simple Minds in their truly embryonic period. Everything on the CD was captured within the first 12 months of the existence of the band. Only Chelsea Girl, Wasteland and Pleasantly Disturbed survived to make it onto the Life In A Day album. Somewhat contentiously, I would separate out Cocteau Twins from the rest of the bunch that made it onto LIAD as I feel it a different enough song although it shares most of the same lines and the exact same musical structure as No Cure (the song Cocteau Twins transitioned into being). It’s more streamline and Jim’s voice is MUCH more his own style by LIAD.
I’m surprised that 18-18 wasn’t recorded as a JATSA track. I think Dead Vandals and 18-18 would have worked better as a single release rather than Saints And Sinners as the lead. I mean Saints And Sinners is fast paced enough but to me it’s not as strong as Dead Vandals and I also think 18-18 is a stronger song. The single could have easily had three songs on it – Saints And Sinners and 18-18 on Side A and Dead Vandals (at a very UNpunk four minutes in length) on Side B.
Other faves on the CD, for me, include Little Bitch, although it really does wear its VU, Bowie, Bolan and Stooges influences heavily on its sleeve. I don’t mind Subway Sex (to be honest, I’ve never had it. Lol. Not even had sex on an overground train, either. A car was as adventurous as I ever got – both front and back seats. Probably would have tried it in the boot as well had I not been so self-conscious. Lol) – do I hear something in the lyrics about ‘hanging around museums’? Did Glaswegian kids hang around outside Queen Street by the Duke and the GoMA way back when?
European Son sees the band moving along musically and lyrically. You can really detect them developing their own style on that track.
Did You Ever (aka Doo Be Doo) is quite pacy and still lingering off from the Abusers phase. There’s an early hint of how much Jim likes a good non-lexical vocable hook (la la las are not yet a concept for him) with the repetition of ‘doo be doo’ throughout the song.
The tracks that leave me a little indifferent are Tonight (even though I know it was quite the early favourite for some) and Lies (just really doesn’t do anything for me). Act Of Love definitely had a great riff – Jim was right to insist that Charlie go back to it and do something with it. I do prefer the 2022 version of the song. The only thing I’m not so sure on is the synth intro and the weird backing vocals. They have always grated on me. When comparing it to the 1978 version, it works better with no BVs in my opinion.
Wasteland became a stronger song for being recorded for Life In A Day. Its sound became much beefier. It was a little wishy-washy as a demo. I liked the “or could it be our Simple Minds” line but Jim was right to ditch it by the LIAD recording. By that time the line would have sounded way too cliched, given they were well established enough by name (at least in Glasgow) by then.
It is great to have exposure to those early demos. Anything that highlights progression and development within Simple Minds’ sound I find really fascinating to listen to and be able to experience. I’m glad I have my own copy. Do I get it out and play it? Not really. If I want to listen to the tracks I’ll do what I did before having the copy (and what I did when researching for this post) and go to YouTube. Is it worth having in your collection? If you love the band and are a completist collector then yes, it’s worth getting it but don’t pay over the odds for it.
Some final thoughts on 18-18. The line “look at your hair” – Simon on Dream Giver theories that the line may have stemmed from Jim’s self-commentary on the colour of his own hair, which Simon states was green. In a Facebook post just last week, Jim says his hair was both pink and green. I’ve never come across any photographic evidence of either. All of the very earliest photos of Simple Minds and JATSA I’ve only ever in black and white, which is a shame. Any rare colour photograph I’ve seen of Jim from the time doesn’t depict him with such colourful locks.
Speaking of black and white photos, the one below is an example of a strange regular salute I’d make to the song. For about a year I’d take a screengrab of my iPad screen if I happened to be using it when the time was 18:18. My screenlock just happened to have one of the sexiest photos of Jim ever taken – one that Sheila Rock had taken and one I obsessed over until her book came out and there was even MORE splendour to be had inside. I haven’t done it for a while now. This was the last one I took and posted as a “timecheck – an excuse to pause and drool” Facebook post. You’re welcome.
Happy Anniversary Early Years CD!
